Former T officer gets 6-month sentence in woman’s beating
A former MBTA Transit Police officer was sentenced to six months in jail Monday for beating a woman and then leveling several false accusations against her in a report, according to the Suffolk District Attorney’s office.
Prosecutors said Jennifer Garvey, 34, had handcuffed an intoxicated bus rider at Dudley Square Station in March 2014 when a bystander who recognized the bus rider from her commute expressed concern over how forcefully Garvey was treating her.
Garvey told the bystander to leave or be arrested for interfering with the investigation. The woman took down Garvey’s badge number and called 911, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Garvey told the woman to move away and pushed her repeatedly, even though the woman was following Garvey’s directions.
Garvey then hit the woman in the legs three times with a baton, injuring her shin badly enough that she needed stitches, prosecutors said.
Garvey arrested the woman and falsely wrote in her reports that the woman had bumped into her and charged at her, prosecutors said.
After an investigation, prosecutors dropped the charges against the woman. Garvey was convicted in July for filing a false report as a public employee and two counts each of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
On Monday, Garvey was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins to serve six months behind bars followed by two years of probation. Prosecutors had asked for one year behind bars and three years probation.
Prosecutors also asked that Garvey be required to undergo a mental health evaluation, attend anger management classes and pay the victim $230 in restitution.
“This defendant not only escalated the situation and used force far beyond what was necessary,’’ Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said in a statement. “She also hijacked the criminal justice system by pursuing charges against the victim that she knew were unfounded.’’
